From the little jar to the big bath : the Aquarium of Paris welcomes abandoned goldfish, sometimes reluctantly, by their owners during the summer, transforming the site to 10,000 specimens in aquatic refuge.

Reds, but also yellows, tigers or blacks; Anniversary Gifts or Earned in a Fair … Since the establishment began playing this role of shelter two years ago, 600 fish have come to swell the 7,500 specimens housed in the Aquarium which also hosts 2 500 jellyfish.

Placed in quarantine for more than one month in the aquarium, the small « carassius auratus » receive as a precaution an antibiotic treatment and antiparasites. « Some people come weak, transportation and the change of life increases their stress, » explains Céline Bezault, a trainer at the Aquarium.

Fragile, a small part of the animals don’t survive to their move. Those who surmount the event will be transferred to basins where they are presented to the public and their existence will radically change.

New space for a new life : no more time spent wandering against the glass of the little jar. Goldfish, a gregarious species, can swim in groups in much larger pools. And resume their growth, stopped clean when they are confined in a jar. « Some can measure up to 20 or 30 centimeters, » notes the animal keeper.

Behind this reception of small fish points the issue of animal welfare. « I think there is a general awareness that animal abuse is a real problem, » says Aquarium Director Alexis Powilewicz, considering that having an ornamental fish in poor conditions is a form of abuse.

The legislation of some European countries also prohibits to live his goldfish in a small jar, ensures the team of the Aquarium.

« For a fish to live in good conditions, it takes four things : at least 100 liters of water, it isn’t alone, a filter system and sets in the aquarium, » adds Morgan Percher , an employee of the establishment.

Domesticated for millennia, especially in China, selected for their beauty over the centuries, the goldfish should know at the Aquarium of Paris a better fate than their congeners whose existence often ends in a flush of flush or in a sink.

And the link with their former owner isn’t necessarily broken : several months later, some come back to see their animal at the Aquarium. Although it’s difficult to know with certainty where among the dozens of residents, their little Bubble.